Yorba Linda man arrested in alleged precious metals scam

by Don Frances

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A 57-year-old Yorba Linda man has been arrested for allegedly scamming people out of money he claimed he would invest in silver and gold, Brea police announced.

In truth, Angelo Castello never intended to invest or repay the $9,000 he took from two Yorba Linda residents over a period of several weeks, police said.

Castello, who also went by Angelo Viers, met his victims in February and told them he would help them invest in silver coins and “spot gold,” Brea police said in a statement.

Spot gold is a term among traders defined as “the price of gold that is available for immediate physical delivery to the buyer.”

According to authorities, Castello initially took smaller installments from the Yorba Linda residents -- perhaps $100 or $200 -- but later ramped up the payments, telling his victims, for example, that he needed more money to “close the deal.”

“Castello’s fraud continued this was way for several weeks until the victims had ultimately given him a large amount of currency in small increments over the time period,” police said.

Altogether, $9,000 was taken from the two victims, they said.

Eventually the victims started to catch on, and asked for their money back. And of course, Castello “was unavailable and if he was contacted, would make excuses why he was unable to repay the victims.”

The victims took their case to Brea police, who investigated and arrested Castello on May 24 on grand theft charges

Brea Police Department detectives believe there may be other victims, and are asking that anyone with information on Castello, or who has been the victim of a similar scam, call Det. Sandra Stone at (714) 990-7189.